Water Demon
by EmeraldMoonGreen
Summary: For those who feel life isn't worth living, beware the siren's song of the water demon, they feed off of human misery.


Walking through a dark forest, the frigid wind, whistling through the grass and leaves, cuts through my clothes and below my skin like a sharpened sword. The cold penetrates my soul. As I walk, the leaves brush against my skin, the air smells of cinnamon and chocolate. Urging me forward with its enticing aroma. Looking up into the night sky, I see stars glittering like fine jewels, the moon glowing, a luminous silver light bathing the land with harsh beams. Only few shadows manage to evade the cold light. I don't know what brought me here, but I know anything is better than going back to empty misery. Despite my instincts screaming at me to turn around and run away, I continue on.

Earth changes, though no one cares to admit it. The air smells bitter and tastes like stomach acids rising up in your throat. During the day, sounds of agitated animals cry out, and, at night, there is an oppressive silence that hangs in the air like a thick fog. Three weeks later, many people start to disappear, without anything to explain where they have gone, or why. No one is allowed outside after nine o'clock. This rule is in place because of the screams we all hear two days later, along with an eerie tune someone hums outside the front door of every house. People are scared, any major company has to throw aside other projects to create high tech security systems to protect people in their homes. Everyone starts to carry panic devices with them to call for help. The company I work for has to make new security measures to meet the demands of the people who fear what prowls the streets, and I struggle to keep up.

My life is on a downward spiral which takes everything from me. It starts with the loss of my job for a simple mistake. After several years of working without demanding anything in return, I am cast aside like common trash. Shortly after the loss of my job, my wife comes home to shriek about how worthless I am; she says she wants to leave me for someone who can give her what she needs. After we argue for hours, she gathers her belongings and walks out. Sleep doesn't come easily, but I am finally going into the land of eternal wonder. I am standing before a pond with moonlight that shines down to leave its reflection on the surface. Something isn't right with this place; it makes my blood run cold and my heart beat quickly. Now something moves in the water so all sounds cease. Before anything can happen, I awake with a jolt from the shrill ring of my alarm clock, and my heart sinks when I remember everything from the day before. The emptiness wears down on my mind, and I feel the siren song from my dream call to me.

I need to know what lurks under the crystalline blue water, need to find something to pull me from the depression. I grab the keys to my car and start to drive aimlessly. I follow the pull at the back of my mind with more determination than I possess. When the forest draws closer, I pass through a shimmering barrier that leads me into a world where the sky is grey. By the time I stop outside the forest, night has fallen to cast shadows on the trees, and I slowly make my way into the forest. As the song seems to grow more alluring, I come to a brightly lit clearing with a placid blue pond. I come to a halt at the edge of the treeline. My stomach curls with an ominous feeling.

As I stare into the water, something slowly begins to rise. My heart nearly stops when a woman's head gently breaks through the surface of the water. I watch silently as she comes to a stop. The only thing visible to me is from her collarbone up. She is the most beautiful creature I've ever seen - thick ebony curls cascading down into the water. She has full pink lips and breathtaking emerald eyes. When our eyes meet it feels as though she is staring into my soul. She swims closer to the shore. I realize that at some point in my daze, I walk until the water laps at my feet and I can only stare as she comes closer.

She stands with the water lapping at her hips. She looks at me her eyes seem to say, "I understand, it will be alright." I feel my legs start to move forward until water caresses my thighs. Suddenly she begins to change. Her once luxurious black locks become matted clumps of seaweed and mud. Her full lips morph into small flaps of skin, which pull back to reveal at least two rows of dagger teeth. Her lovely emerald eyes that shine brighter than any star change into pure black orbs with a small ring of white around the edges, paralyzing me with the bitter hatred that blazes. I try to back away, but she lunges forward, gnarled hands with needle-like claws dig into my skin as she drags me to the center of the pond. I struggle to get out of her iron grip as she pulls me deeper into the darkness. The air forcefully leaves my lungs, which become full with water and my heart beats at a sluggish pace. The last thing I see before I give in to the peaceful lull of is the face of a beautiful woman as she leans in to give me a kiss.

As the sun slowly rises, it casts a warm glow on everything it touches. The forest was silent as the ripples in the pond begin to cease. For those who listen hard enough they will swear they hear an eerie song rise to the heavens, a call from the water demon singing to its next victim.


End file.
